Y'all ready for some emotionally frustrated Dick and angst that you didn't ask for?

Edited 06/02/2024: format changes and small additions

It was that time of the year when every elementary school put on a nativity for the crowd of parents who really didn't want to be there but showed up anyway. A week before, Bruce promised that he would go to the play since he had missed quite a few events the school put on for the parents. The boy was ecstatic and spent the entire week mentioning it whenever he could as a reminder.

With that promise in mind, Dick looked out onto the crowd. He wouldn't be on till the final act but he wanted to make sure that his guardian had actually turned up. Behind him, children ran around trying to remember their one line as teachers and students who volunteered from the higher classes chased after them with bits of tinsel to pin to their hair. One of those students happened to be Barbara who only volunteered because he was in the show. She noticed him looking out from the side of the stage and decided to talk to him.

"What're you doing?" she asked. He turned around with a frown.

"Trying to find him," he replied. "He's not here."

"Assuming you're talking about Bruce, I'm sure he'll turn up. I bet he's just late, you know how work can be," she assured him. He didn't seem convinced and kept glancing out at the people who did manage to come on time. "He might come in halfway through since you're at the end of the play," she added. He wouldn't do himself any favours if he kept staring for him to arrive. "Come help me with a few things. It'll be more fun than standing around waiting." Dick had to give it to her, it would be more interesting to help her backstage. He reluctantly left his spot and joined her in helping out track down kids without anything sparkly on their heads.

When she got the free moment, Barbara sent Bruce a quick text. Just to check how things were coming along. 

"Hey, when are you coming?" she asked. She looked around, making sure Dick wasn't hovering behind her. She couldn't be too careful and she didn't want to make him anxious for no reason. 

"What am I coming to again?" he responded. Her heart dropped but she tried to maintain an expressionless face. Maybe he didn't know she was helping out tonight and didn't know what she was referring to, thinking he double-booked himself on accident. 

"You know, the nativity." Typing. Pause. Typing. 

"I forgot." She couldn't believe this. Had he actually forgotten about the play? Dick had been talking about the play all week, how could he have forgotten? It was the topic of every conversation she had with him so it had to be the same at home. 

"You're joking." He didn't respond. He wasn't joking. 

"Something wrong Babs?" Dick asked, seeing her roll her eyes whilst on her phone. 

"No, it's fine. Just my dad forgetting where he put something. I'm gonna call him outside, I'll be right back," she said.

After leaving the room, the next thing she did was call Bruce with no intention of buying whatever excuse he came up with. 

"Look I'm sorry, I lost track of time and must've forgotten to tell my secretary to book the tickets-"

"Do you know how many times you've skipped his school events? He went to his own parent's evening with a tape recorder because you were stuck in a meeting!" she argued angrily. 

"I know I've not been there a lot but I'm running a business on top of other things, he knows that."

"Does he? Because to me, he doesn't. All he knows is that you're missing important school events and making empty promises to come to the next one. He's the kid, he shouldn't have to be worrying about this stuff when it's your job." 

There was a loud sigh on the other side of the phone and part of her could sympathise with him. He didn't mean to make empty promises. He means it at the moment but then things get in the way and he had to let Dick down. It was the easiest thing to do because Dick took it. He would always forgive him. 

"I'll make it up to him later. He'll understand."

"Yeah, he will, but that doesn't mean he's going to be happy about it. He shouldn't be." She rubbed the bridge of her nose to release some of the pent-up tension although Bruce would always be the source of constant headaches. She couldn't go back in so hot. 

"Can you tell him I can't make it? I'll pick him up afterwards, when does it end?" She fought the urge to throw her phone against the wall.

"In an hour or so. You better have a good way of making this up to him. Something tells me ice cream isn't going to cut it this time." She hung up and returned to the room.

As though he could sense something was off, Dick frowned at her. 

"What's happened? Did your dad not find what he was looking for?"

"Actually, it wasn't my dad I was talking to. It was your dad. I'm so sorry Dick but Bruce forgot about tonight," she answered. It was like she could hear his heart shatter when she spoke. He stared at her glassy-eyed for a moment or two, maybe longer. Then he blinked whatever tears were brewing away. 

"Oh, so he's not coming at all?" She nodded reluctantly.

"He'll pick you up after the show." He thought before speaking again. His mind worked to salvage what he could from tonight but it couldn't. There was no point going out on stage if Bruce wasn't there. 

"Can you text him to pick me up now? I want to go home," he told her. Barbara didn't like how he sounded yet she found herself sending a text to the guardian anyway. 

"He's trying and I know it sucks but-"

"I don't want to talk about it, Babs. He's not worth it."

Dick waited on the steps outside the school with his ginger friend by his side. She had an arm around him under the pretence of keeping him warm but really it was to help him feel better. They didn't speak and Dick was grateful for that. She seemed to understand him a lot more than Bruce did. Maybe she could give him lessons. 

A car soon pulled up and Barbara waved him off. He climbed inside and found a guilty-looking mentor inside. 

"Hey chum, I'm sorry about tonight," he apologised. It was then that Dick decided he didn't deserve to be talked to. He deserved to be ignored for the night and longer depending on how Dick felt. So he crossed his arms and looked out at the passing buildings as they drove home. "I wanted to make this up to you so can choose how we spend our weekend. Well, Sunday. For an hour. Or less." Bruce cringed at himself. He was digging himself into a hole, making everything worse. "What do you say?" Nothing left the Boy Wonder's mouth. He didn't even look at the man. "I know you're upset with me but you have to understand that work does have to come first." The boy tensed a little. "That sounded worse than it is."

They pulled up and Dick maintained his silence. He maintained it for the next four days in fact. He made it especially gut-wrenching by talking to everyone else like nothing was wrong. He'd even talk to plants just to rub it in Bruce's face that he'd messed up. Although he intended to keep up the act, one night had him weak enough to break.

Bruce had been doing some midnight reading, deeming that night as a sleepless one. His situation with his ward made it difficult to sleep, more so than usual. It was his own fault but that didn't stop it from hurting. The night had been peaceful until he heard a loud yelp. He sprang out of bed, his book fell to the floor forgotten and he ran to the room he knew it came from. Upon opening the door, he found Dick sitting bolt upright with his legs close to his chest. His eyes glimmered with fear lingering from the nightmare. He hadn't noticed his mentor looking at him from the doorway. 

"Everything okay chum?" Bruce asked, knowing fully well everything wasn't okay. Dick either ignored him or was still staying silent because he was given no reply.

Now, in Bruce's defence, he hadn't slept well since this whole thing started and he wasn't the best at dealing with emotions. Don't believe me? The man beats up criminals because he doesn't have a healthy grieving process. So when he got no reply, he got frustrated. Emotionally frustrated. He had no idea if he was supposed to punish the boy or have a serious sit-down talk with him. Was he supposed to ignore the behaviour? Did he need to get a therapist? Was this a sign of some unknown disease he didn't know about? 

"For God's sake talk to me! I missed a nativity! I didn't miss your graduation!" he ranted. Dick jumped at the sound of his raised voice but was quick to counter. 

"You didn't just miss the nativity," he said quietly.

"Oh, now he speaks. Go on, tell me what else I've done wrong." He knew perfectly well that his tone was pointed. That didn't seem to matter at the moment. 

"You missed three award evenings, one play, two math meets, three chess matches and two parent's evenings! My parents would've never missed out on so much! They would've been there!"

"Well, I'm sorry that your parents can't go to every meeting because believe me, I'd rather you be with them since I'm such an awful father!" Bruce's hand clamped over his mouth as Dick winced away from him. "That was too far."

"No kidding," Dick sniffled.

Cautiously, he made his way over to the child and sat on the end of his bed. 

"Why don't you like me anymore?" the boy asked. Bruce's head snapped up with a concerned expression.

"What do you mean? Of course, I like you." What on earth made him think that? Had he really been that withdrawn lately? 

"When we first met, you'd move heaven and earth to spend time with me. Now it feels like you spend all you're time at work. Did I do something to make you not want me anymore?" Bruce snatched Dick up in a tight hug, wanting to get rid of that thought as soon as he heard it. 

"No no, you didn't do anything wrong. It's just... When you first came here, you needed that attention. You'd just lost your parents and didn't have a support system. Once you started to go about things as normal as they could be, I thought it was okay to step back into my normal." He should've explained himself earlier. This would've never happened if he'd done that in the first place. "I shouldn't have done it so suddenly and without telling you, I just thought you were ready." He pulled away from Dick, letting him wipe away the tears that managed to slip past his iron front. 

"That makes sense," Dick said softly. "I'm sorry for icing you out. Guess it was a bit childish of me." Bruce chuckled.

"How can I expect any different? You're still a kid. If not, you're a very small adult and I should really contact the foster agency."

"I'm not that small. Just wait till I get my growth spurt."

"Oh yeah maybe you'll reach five feet," Bruce teased, earning a light punch from the acrobat.